Capturing the ages

Evolution of styles

Despite the painting of important figures being an early genre in traditional Chinese art, its status faded after the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), when that format began to boom in contemporaneous Europe.

Ma attributes the reason to the rise of Chinese literati paintings-those drawn by scholars, officials or writers-at that time.

"The literati preferred a symbolic and conceptual style that emphasized an elegant atmosphere rather than a realistic portrait of details as shown in the painting of historic figures," he says.

"Consequently, landscape painting, which better reveals philosophy, values and cultural cultivation, was favored by them."

Professional painters might be more skillful in meticulously portraying people's facial expressions and folds on clothes, but, in the art circle, they had to give way to those literati. That partially explains why many exhibits have no information of their creators' names.

"The painting of figures continued to thrive within royal courts of the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties," Ma says. "But the painters following the emperors' order had little room to mix in their personal styles."

During this time, the painting of figures tended to be more connected with folk art and ordinary people's lives. For instance, a displayed Ming portrait of Zhang Fei, a military general from the third century, mixes his image with elements of traditional New Year woodcut paintings, which appear on people's doors.

Ma says the ongoing exhibition is the first phase of a series in the Wenhua Dian gallery that focuses on ancient Chinese figures through painting. Another three exhibitions, each lasting two months, will be presented through the autumn of 2022, respectively on hermits, ordinary women and urban life.

Last year, the four exhibitions were planned to run in the Meridian Gate Galleries, the biggest exhibition space in the Palace Museum, as a tribute to the 600th anniversary of the completion of the Forbidden City. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disturbed the original schedule, and the exhibitions are being held one after another in the Wenhua Dian Gallery.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, up to 3,000 visitors are allowed daily in the gallery-2,000 in the morning and 1,000 in the afternoon. Reservations are needed in advance via gugong.ktmtech.cn or the official account of the Palace Museum on WeChat, at no extra charge.